Journal
BRAIN AND COGNITION
Volume 69, Issue 1, Pages 138-147Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2008.06.005
Keywords
Multistable perception; Bistable perception; Ambiguous figures; Visual perception; Necker cube; Bottom-up; Top-down volitional control
Categories
Funding
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [BA 877/162]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
During prolonged observation of an ambiguous figure sudden perceptual reversals occur, while the stimulus itself stays unchanged. There is a vivid debate about whether bottom-up or top-down mechanisms underlie this phenomenon. In the present study, we investigated the interrelation of two experimental factors: volitional control and discontinuous stimulus presentation. Both factors strongly modulate the rate of perceptual reversals and each is attributed either as top-down or bottom-up. We found that participants can apply specific strategies to volitionally increase and/or decrease the stability duration of each of the possible percepts according to the experimental instructions. When attempts of volitional control are combined with discontinuous stimulus presentation the effects are fully additive. Our results indicate that perceptual reversals can originate from different neural mechanisms on different time scales. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available